Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Doug uses Dr. Ph. Martin's Synchromatic Transparent Watercolor ink on Peterboro HI-ART, Made in Canada, Watercolor Board. It's frequently referred to as 88 Board. The surface is 100% rag by Arches of France. He works from lighter colors, like flesh tones and then blonde hair, to darker colors and big to small. (The color reference is upper left.)

For Playboy finishes, Doug works approximately twice the reproduction size, but he worked original size for the six limited edition 11" x 17" prints he's sold at comic-cartoon conventions.

The first convention he attended was Super-Con in May 2007 at the invitation of Super-Con organizers Steve Morger and Steve Wyatt.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Doug only does a few comic-cartoon conventions a year; his third and final convention for 2009 was Fan Expo Canada in Toronto. He was a featured guest for the 15th annual convention, held August 28-30.

After he returned home from exhibiting at the 40th annual San Diego Comic-Con July 22-26, he decided to do a new 11" x 17" limited edition bunny print to debut at Fan Expo Canada. She was quite a hit with attendees so we decided to share some of the preliminary development material on the blog.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

It's Monday morning, July 27; Doug's waiting for a taxi to take us to the airport for our flight back to Toronto. Although the Westin San Diego, 400 West Broadway, was too far to conveniently walk to the convention center, we enjoyed our stay there.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The bags are packed and boxes taped - Big Wow Art exhibitors, with help from friends, took the booth "down" in record time this year.

Steve Morger (right), owner of Big Wow Art, gets ready to return home after another great Comic-Con. He's already reserved booth space for 2010 so Doug and I look forward to seeing everyone at next year's convention - July 22-25!

Monday, October 19, 2009

While Doug personalized Unpublished Sneyd for Rasoul, he talked about his work as a layout supervisor for the Disney musical The Princess and the Frog, an animated comedy set in New Orleans. It features music by Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman and will open in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on November 25.

Rasoul has worked for Disney for 24 years.

It was Sean's first year at Comic-Con. He lives in Lakewood, California.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

With 125,000 attendees registered for the 40th annual Comic-Con, it was definitely a busy time in downtown San Diego and the San Diego Convention Center, but I learned quickly that the best way to get around the exhibit halls was to take a walk outside.

While walking outside to avoid the congestion in the exhibit halls the last day of the 5-day convention, I noticed a small carnival in the park adjacent to the Hilton Gaslamp, located across the street from the convention center.

On my walk outside Sunday afternoon, July 26, from booth 4903 to 601, I couldn't help but notice this costumed attendee.

There was art to appreciate outside of the convention center, too.

A lot of costumed Comic-Con fans preferred being outside of the convention center.

If you've never been to Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center, you may not be able to visualize the congestion; it's a sea of bodies moving at a slow - very slow - pace. So, getting from Big Wow Art, booth 4903, to Baby Tattoo Books, booth 601, may not seem like a problem. It is, though, if you try to weave your way through the aisles; however, by exiting the building and walking outside - as I did, you'll definitely avoid the crush of meandering bodies.

Once I got to 601, I said "good-bye" to (left) Bob Self, Baby Tattoo publisher, and (right) artist Travis Louie, who Doug and I met Thursday evening, July 23, at a private Baby Tattoo party.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Friday, October 16, 2009

Herb had Doug personalize a copy of Unpublished Sneyd for his girlfriend, actress Wendy Schaal, best known for playing Francine on American Dad! Doug sketched Wendy from a photograph that Herb had in his wallet.

This was Kayla's second year attending Comic-Con. She lives in Los Angeles.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Steve Morger, owner of Big Wow Art, invites a variety of talented artists to exhibit at his booths at Comic-Con each year. For example, Sanjulian traveled from Barcelona to exhibit with Big Wow Art. Doug first met Sanjulian when they both participated as featured guests at Super-Con 2007.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Bio

Doug has been a cartoonist for Playboy magazine since 1964.
For nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-60's, his "Doug Sneyd" and "Scoops" news cartoons appeared daily in newspapers across North America. Sneyd's talent has also led him into cinema: in 1993, he wrote, produced and directed "Black-eyed Susan," an educational movie-drama about spousal abuse, for the Ontario government. He was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Book Illustrators and has been a member of the National Cartoonists' Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Thirty of his full-page color Playboy cartoons are among the 235 Sneyd works included in the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
Sneyd was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, but spent much of his professional career in Toronto. In 1969 he moved his family north to Orillia made famous as the mythical "Mariposa" by humorist Stephen Leacock. He works on the third floor of his home-studio overlooking beautiful Lake Couchiching and spends his winters on the Gulf Coast in Orange Beach, Alabama.